Nothing Like Technicolor Cake...

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I had a bit of a bumpy morning yesterday and stormed into the office like a dark cloud.  Insignificant annoyances were inspiring rage, which I had to keep checked for professional conduct reasons, and though every fiber of me wanted to take each dish in the kitchen and smash it on the floor, I decided it would feel even worse to get fired from a place I actually love for my own childish behavior.  Everything was needling me in the worst way with no relief in sight.  So at 9am, I decided to take a little breather and check in on one of my favorite blogs, Confections of a (Closet) Master Baker.

I love this blog. Gesine, the author, is one talented woman.  In addition to creating some of the most amazing cakes I've ever seen, she has a book out and runs marathons, which is something I aspire to do but so far have been too scared... on both counts.  My fiance has had the hots for her sister for years, but I'm more of a fan of this lady.  She's someone I can relate to and look up to at the same time.  In fact, if my best friends and I took each of our best features and combined forces into one awesome woman, she just might be our "Captain Planet."  Ok, enough gushing.  Back to my bad day.

In order to take my mind off everything that was getting to me, I went to take a look at CCMB to see what kind of lovelies she had that day.  Right there smiling back at me was the most glorious rainbow layer cake I've ever seen.  I nearly fell off my chair with joy.  It was a trifecta of happiness: my own longtime love of rainbow cakes, beautiful and innovative execution, and wonderful pictures.  My heart went like this:

And just like that, I lightened up a little bit.  I took a deep breath, found my inner-rainbow, and shook off that bad attitude I'd worked up over the last coupe hours.  It's amazing what a little beauty and creative inspiration can do.

Galettes/Pies/Tarts

I've been obsessed with pies lately.  It happened when my talented baxtress friend Abby mentioned she hated making pies.  I happen to love baking pies and offered my services as an overflow option if she ever needed it.  I usually try not to do this because there are few things more annoying than someone trying to weasel her way into your culinary project.  In fact, I'm a firm believer in staying out of another cook's home kitchen entirely.  That being said, Abby is my PLP and I know she would feel comfortable saying, "Monica, stay the eff out of my biz," if she had to.  So I offered, and then stayed the eff out her biz, but I made pies anyway.  For myself.  Of course.

So Abby got pies back on my brain, but with a twist.  I'm usually an apple pie baker with a full top crust, but she got me thinking about galettes - rustic topless pies.  Pretty sexy, eh?  Indeed.  My first go was a mixed berry version, which Andrew still requests.  It was great.  I'm a big proponent of lemon in pies, so any pie I make will get the juice of at least 1/2 lemon.  It's just for some extra zing.  For me, a berry pie/tart with no hint of tart zing is a failure.  I hate failing.

Then, a couple weeks ago I got up at an ungodly early hour on a Sunday morning while spending the weekend at my friend Sabina's place in Gig Harbor.  I raided her kitchen for pie ingredients and threw together this:

Okay so it's not rustic, but it was delicious and simple to throw together - literally.  I put six eggs, some provolone, ham, zucchini, dill, and a shallot int a bowl, stirred it up, and threw it in a pie crust (which I half-baked ahead of time). We ate it like this:

While we ate, I had this in the oven:

This one is indeed a rustic pie, which just means I pay more attention to the way the fruit looks and forget the top crust altogether.  It was scrumptious.  We ate it like this:

The secret's in the crust.  I am fortunate enough to come from a long line of pie-baking women who have a tried and true crust.  I'm sure it dates back before Grandma Miller, but that's as far as I have ever bothered to ask.  That was four generations ago and out to the plains of Kansas, a generation before the Great Depression.  It's damn good crust and even if she didn't create the recipe, she gets a nod for keeping the pie tradition going, as does Gma Benton and Gma Shank, and especially my mama.

So I've been making these galettes since Memorial Day weekend and I just can't get enough.  It's a lazy way to make pie without compromising on any of the deliciousness or presentation.  Last night I made a recipe I saw on Smitten Kitchen for a zucchini ricotta galette with some of my own mods.  I plugged the recipe in HERE so I could calculate the nutrition info per serving too, because I like to do that.  We all loved last night's galette so much, I made it again this morning for lunch/dinner tonight, plus a peach one with lemon-scented ricotta.  My car was extremely fragrant.  Here they are in my back seat:

Happy July to you all!

Pina Colada Pie.... A Daydream

 I have been fantasizing about two things: pina coladas and making pies.  In fact, I had a hard time falling asleep last night because I was getting all worked up about the idea of a pina colada pie.  Furthermore, I overslept by an hour this morning because my dreams had shifted to pies and they were just so beautiful.  This morning, I haven't been able to stop thinking about how I would craft such a pie.  I think the best bet is to adapt an egg custard pie and take it up a notch.  Adapted from THIS RECIPE, here's what I have in mind.

Ingredients

•  zest of 1 lime
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust, made from my secret family recipe.  (Add the zest of 1 lime to the crust mix and stir through before you add the water)
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 egg white
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 15oz can coconut milk
• juice of 1 lime
• 1/2 cup dark rum
• Sliced fresh pineapple
• 1 cup whipped cream for topping
• 2 Tbsp toasted coconut flakes for topping

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). 
2. On a baking sheet, bake fresh pineapple slices for 15 min
3. Meanwhile, heat coconut milk, lime juice, and rum together in a pan until just barely boiling and remove from heat source.
4. Mix together 3 eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Stir well. Blend in the heated coconut milk, lime juice, and rum.
5. Line pie pan with pastry, and brush inside bottom and sides of shell with egg white to help prevent a soggy crust. Pour custard mixture into pie crust.
6. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on rack.
7. Fan baked pineapple slices over top of pie, and top with whipped cream and toasted coconut just before serving.

 So there it is.  Of course I haven't tried it yet, but I'm getting really excited about the possibilities.  Thoughts?